[tlavin]

Apparently the folks in charge of the Shell Houston Open have tried to mirror the golf course setup to Augusta's, in an effort to get Masters participants to play in the tour stop the week before the Masters.  The approach seems to be working:

http://www.pgatour.com/2008/tournaments/r020/04/02/houston_preview/index.html

On another site (link available at geoff schackelford's site), the golf course superintendent has a video where he says that he believes the course is in as good condition as ANGC.  Apparently, they're even using ANGC's mowing pattern on the greens.

This strikes me as pretty ingenious marketing.

[JESII]

It is an interesting concept. I think TPC Sugarloaf used similar marketing, and Westchester has always seemed like a comparable setup to the US Open...trouble is, it seems every other year Westchester falls AFTER the US Open.

Regardless, I don't think the top four or five guys really bite on this, do they?

[BVince]

I started a similar thread yesterday but it fell off the board quickly.  The course looks to be in superb conditions. 

[Jay Flemma]

Come on Redstone, who believes that because the course tries to condition itself to be "like Augusta: that it will play anything like Augusta.  For goodness sake, two players broke the course record just yesterday.

Tune up for the Masters my fanny!  Thank goodness Melanie Hauser was there to call them out for doing it.

[Jeff Spittel]

I am going to out to watch the golf on Sunday, so I'll be interested to see how it looks. Obviously, the course is no Augusta, but my friends who went out yesterday said the course is in spectacular condition.

[rjsimper]

Come on Redstone, who believes that because the course tries to condition itself to be "like Augusta: that it will play anything like Augusta.  For goodness sake, two players broke the course record just yesterday.

Tune up for the Masters my fanny!  Thank goodness Melanie Hauser was there to call them out for doing it.

"Call them out" for doing what?  What needed to be called out?  They've openly said this is what they were doing, and have not pretended they'd mimic the scoring conditions at ANGC - rather some of the shots that need to be hit.  If a 60 degree wedge from a tight lie to a pin cut over the top of a mound on a fast green is presented to a player this week, does that not in any way help him for next week? 

For some maybe not, but there are players already on the record as saying that while nothing will be exact, they've tried their best and I am sure a number of players feel that while all 72 (or 63) strokes in a round are a mimicry of Augusta, the value of the odd shot here and there that captures the characteristics of next week can not be ignored entirely.

[Mark Bourgeois]

You know what, Jay?

Call it "The Masters," serve red velvet cake, queue up that crap song and get a 300-year-old white guy to come out every 10 minutes from under his umbrella and call out, "Fore please..." and watch those scores shoot up!

Mark

[J_ Crisham]

I am going to out to watch the golf on Sunday, so I'll be interested to see how it looks. Obviously, the course is no Augusta, but my friends who went out yesterday said the course is in spectacular condition.

    Jeff, We played the Redstone course last year the week after the tour event and we all commented on the well manicured course. We also thought that it would be a nightmare to watch a tour event- the distance from the 18th green to some points deep in the course would be in the 1.5-2 mile range. Quite a bit different from other tour stops I've visited. 

[Don_Mahaffey]

My son Ryan and I will be there this weekend. Ryan is left handed and a bomber so naturally we will be following Bubba.

I think some of the worlds best like to play the week before a major, and some like to take the week off and prepare in a different manner. I don’t think the venue matters all that much, but it is good marketing. And even though Redstone is in perfect shape, it’s not Augusta.

[Sam Morrow]

I am going to out to watch the golf on Sunday, so I'll be interested to see how it looks. Obviously, the course is no Augusta, but my friends who went out yesterday said the course is in spectacular condition.

    Jeff, We played the Redstone course last year the week after the tour event and we all commented on the well manicured course. We also thought that it would be a nightmare to watch a tour event- the distance from the 18th green to some points deep in the course would be in the 1.5-2 mile range. Quite a bit different from other tour stops I've visited. 

I miss the TPC at The Woodlands.

[Tony Petersen]

Come on Redstone, who believes that because the course tries to condition itself to be "like Augusta: that it will play anything like Augusta.  For goodness sake, two players broke the course record just yesterday.

Tune up for the Masters my fanny!  Thank goodness Melanie Hauser was there to call them out for doing it.

Wiiiiiii - lllllll - sssss - ooooo - nnnn...

Like Simper, calling them out for what? I'm thinking that Melanie is not a member of MENSA, and I really don't understand the conflict, Jay? The Sup is trying to replicate the playing conditions, which, according to ALOT of accounts, has been a resounding success. What's so controversial about simluating mowing lines, cuts, collars, tight lies, lightning fast greens, etc? We ALL (the Sup included) know that you cannot replicate Augusta, but you CAN replicate the playing conditions to a degree that the players in Houston are going to benefit come next week in Augusta because of the similar playing conditions in Houston. That's common sense & brilliance on the part of the Sup!

Tony P.

[Jay Flemma]

But it promotes the thought that conditioning makes a great golf course, not the architecture.  It promotes the thought that "PRETTY!" makes a great golf course, not architecture.  It's lowest common denominator and it veils the eyes of the golf community to the truth.  It increases the maintenance costs of the private club down the street in every hamlet, village, and town in America who think "because I see it on TV, I should emulate it..."

Oh...and Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilsooooooooooooooooooooooon! Right back atchya!

[BVince]

Jay, are the good conditions this week not represented every week on the PGA Tour?  It seems to me that the courses they play every week are in the best shape possible.

Redstone's primary change that is getting so much attention is the decision to decrease the length of rough to an inch and a half in order to help the players better prepare for the upcoming Master's golf tournament. 

I guess I go against the grain on here because I prefer quality conditioning.  Why not enhance the architects design by having the course in good shape?  The Masters would lose much of its appeal if the conditioning was reduced.  Everyone talks about how fast and true AGNC's greens play.  Just about everyone I know loves to see the blooming azaleas behind the 13th green.  Its all part of the lure. 

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